MY 14th BIRTHDAY AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!/ STEVEN"S MAIN PRESENT FOUND IN BIN!

FROM = 13 to 14 Years

On 16th September/Sunday was my 14th BIRTHDAY. It was an exciting day. After a nice long sleep-in, I looked out of the window to see how the weather was like and ........... it was GOING TO RAIN!!! YAAAY I LOVE IT WHEN IT RAINS!! It is sooo cozy and nice inside! I hummed the birthday-song while walking to the living room where there was my favorite music playing from Adele and when looking around the corner there was MY FAMILY !! SINGING " HAPPY BIRTHDAY"!!!!!. and a table with the most delicious BREAKFAST display with gifts !!!!! 

It was a breakfast with sweets, cut apples, tea, cheese and yoghurt!!!

PRESENTS

My birthday BREAKFAST!!!

I received a giant blue lolly pop, a voucher for a Spanish t-shirt, running get-jets for when Steven and I run (we can see how far we went and the km/time etc.) I also got a voucher for a new (school and travel) bag to replace my old one which is falling apart.......... & I GOT MY FIRST bright red, leather real CHANEL HAND BAG!!!! Which I got from my aunt. (aahhhhhhhhh!!!)

From Steven I had the most exciting, original fun present. I first had to do a word-search before I could open the presents. I had to figure where my presents were hidden and it was " MILK BOXES" I told Steven that he had made a mistake, but it wasn't a mistake..... I really got 2 milk boxes filled with small presents!! I got a shower cap with 2 red devil-horns, a purple folding basket to put goodies in , lip ice, a belt with the Italian flag on it and an Italian key ring!!! Funny enough he only remembered that there was another present when he went to bed that night. That evening we were all in bed when Steven woke up with a fright. He shouted and ran to the bin and was relieved that the rubbish was still there. He searched and looked for the empty wrappings in between banana peels and decorations and found his main present still sitting in the 'Milkbox'. His MAIN PRESENT that he gave to me in the middle of the night!!was a blue necklace with my first and second name on it. He had it specially made in Florence and almost forgot about it! I was very excited and happy about all the Skype calls, SMS', Whats Apps, Facebook and telephone calls. Thank you for all the Birthday wishes.

Well, you may be asking where did she have her birthday. We are now in Barcelona were we arrived a day before my birthday. This time we went by plane!! The positive thing of an airplane is that you can just sit and relax whereas in a train you have to keep and eye on the baggage and move them around. On the other hand there is 5 % chance that your suitcase won't arrive at your destination and this is what happened to us after a 9 months of traveling.

No, not with a suitcase (luckily) but MY HOCKEY STICK. The special one I got from my hockey club in San Telmo/Argentina. I was furious and sad! We asked everywhere in the airport. The only chance was to look at the " special luggage" so we waited for an hour, but nothing came. Finally they told us that they would send it to our apartment that same day, but after waiting and waiting, calling and calling we did not get it back!! Manana, Manana, manana, yes tomorrow. SOO ANGRY. That was not the only thing we were angry about this week......NOO way. 

Before I tell you; lets go back to Australia, 6 months ago. 

I got a late Christmas present in Melbourne, a beautiful watch with a white strap on which one could see the date and numbers and was water proof   We saw it in a surf-shop named RIPCURL!!! A month later in Beijing it just STOPPED WORKING!! Mom thinks it is the battery! We looked for 5 months to find somewhere a RIP CURL SHOP on our way!! FINALLY ON GOOGLE we found Rip Curl in Barcelona. We visited the shop and ...THEY HAD TO SEND IT TO FRANCE (where we were 2 months ago).  However, it would take 3 weeks to receive it back and NO the shop could not send it to us in Spain. We have to go back to where we bought it ???!!!!! Duuuhhhhh!!!! No assistance from Rip Curl to solve the problem, a manager who did not want to speak to us and 2 shop assistants who did not help because they were afraid to loose their jobs and be part of the 24% unemployments?? Mom was out of breath and tired! She eventually stopped suggestion solutions and could not go on. We/They did not have a solution themselves!  So far Rip Curl is more like a Rip off. The watch stopped working and no service to follow up!!! So...to be continued!!!!

BARCELONA SIGHT SEEING!

The first thing we learned from dad was about Catalan and that Barcelona wants to be independent (own country). They pay a lot of tax and do not get anything back in return. They even have their own language- it's in between Spanish and French. It's Catalonia.

Sangrada Familia

The first thing we learned from mom when we were in Barcelona was about Antoni Gaudi, a famous architect who was born in Spain and moved to Barcelona to study and work. The best know building was the Sagrada Familia. He began to build the church (Sagrada Familia) with a lot of dedication and Antoni Gaudi worked on the Sagrada Familia till he died in 1926. He died from a tram accident. The people brought him to a poor hospital when they found him on the street, because he looked very scruffy. No-one knew him. The church was never finished and today they are still working on the church.

We also went to see the Gaudi Museum in Parc Guell and the strange but interesting houses in the centre of Barcelona Gracia.

A REAL BARCELONA DISH = PAELLA

After walking through the Las Rambla street we walked all the way to the end. We were in the harbor and thought it was a good idea to eat  Paella. We sat outside on a terrace and we ordered Paella for 2 people which was enough to share. From our view we had seen people selling bags, Barcelona fridge magnets and glasses, but you could see that they did not have a licence to sell in the street. When the police came to check they wrapped their things in less then a minute and walked away! Look at the 2 videos below!

Gracias, Louisa

(Semana proxima : last but not least)

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CHILLING in Monaco!

We left Chiavari with the train along the coast direction to Ventimiglia on the border of Italy. We booked 4 tickets, but we were not next to each other. We were spread along the train and had no space to put our bags so we packed it in the corridor outside. When the coffee-trolley came we had to move them out of the way and move them back again. This continued the whole train ride so it was not a relaxing ride. In Ventimiglia we were fetched and brought to Monaco.
This whole week we were invited to a great hotel with beautiful view over Monaco and Cote d' Azure. It felt like a real holiday! Of course you all think.....they have a holiday for 52 weeks, but actually most days are planned with schooltasks, visits and not too late nights. Now we had a whole week of no planning which felt like a real vacation with the bright, warm sun and a bit of reading a bit of swimming and a lot of nice fun lunches and dinners! So this week I have not written a lot, but took many nice pictures...see below.

Welcome to Monaco, the Princedom in the south of France near the Italian border. 

Mum & Steven looking from the Rock (old town) down on my 

mum's old apartment when she worked in Monaco.

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene (from South Africa) live on 

the Rock and their castle is guarded by special police in white

uniforms. 

Playing "catching the ring" with Truffel. He was so sweet.
 I don't know why Steven was scared.

Cars are not really his thing, but Steven still liked 

looking at all the fast and beautiful cars in front 

of the Casino. Many Ferraris and Lamborghinis. 

Out of all the cars dad still chooses "THE SMART"

LAMBORGHINI !!!

Talking about his dream boat!  Perhaps he had the wrong T-shirt on!

While walking through Monte Carlo/Monaco Steven had decided that he is going to live in a boat. This way he can live where he wants and go everywhere with his house/boat. So he Googled and researched information and decided he should start saving as from today. He is going to call her " The Voyage". We visited the harbor and because of the Boat Show next week there were more boats than usual. Nice for Steven to look. There were many luxury boats with flat screen televisions and a jacuzzi!! Or you could choose a small boat where you can just fish from, but Steven wants a boat in between. 

This one is too big for Steven!

This is what he wants!! But than Cheaper!!

Monaco by night view from our hotel. No problems to have 

beautiful dreams every night.

(next week normall blog : MY 14th BIRTHDAY!!!!!!)

Merci Loes

Coconut, Coconut Crack your SHELL!!- FLORENCE

 

Michelangelo's David - left the real one & right the copy! 

The apartment in Florence we did not find on Booking.com or Trip Advisor. This one we did not have to find at all. We could stay in an apartment of a friend of Lex who we met in London. The APARTMENT is in the centre of Florence!!!!
Perfect because there are many beautiful museums in the old city and we were very close to all of them.

We saw "David" the sculpture from Mischelangelo in the museum we were not allowed to make pictures, but dad did!! David looked like a real giant. Every detail you saw looked like a real person the veins, his muscles how Michelangelo made it out of marble was soo real!!! 

The museum Palazzo Vecchio was a museum and gallery where you could see where the very important family of the Medici lived. They built beautiful houses and collected many paintings and had things made for them by the local artists.We saw that a part of a huge wall painting was covered because scientists where still doing some new discoveries in the painting of the Battle of Anghiari. The scientists invented a new way of looking through a painting and now they think that Leonardo da Vinci painted under another artist who painted over his painting. It was very interesting. In the museum Uffizi Gallery we saw Leonardo Da Vinci's paintings and Rembrandt paintings. O, but before we could visit the museums we had to be very very patient. The first time we went was in the afternoon and there was a long line with many people. The second time we came very early in the morning but were the only ones. So we found out that it was closed on Mondays. On Tuesday we just went and waited in the line.  

At Market

When we walked back home we heard very loud police sirens and after the police motorbikes came the cyclist of a Giro -cycle race. Such an excitement in such a small town. 

Market

Mom and I found in Firenze a lovely local inside Market where they sold fresh and colorful looking fruits, vegetables, bread, fish, different Italian cheeses and meat!! We did a lot of grocery shopping for dinner and a picnic that we had on the boulevard bridge overlooking the Ponte Vecchio.

Everywhere in Rome and in Florence they sold coconuts. It looked very attractive so we needed to taste. We could not open it and tried a table knife, bread knife, scissors, Steven’s head, but we could not open the coconut. The only way we could open it was by dropping it from our apartment on to the street!! Haha watch video. By the way................ IT TASTED DELICOUS!!! It was worth throwing the coconut!!

Not Pisa but Chiavari

Our own leaning tower of Pisa

With the train from the touristic areas Rome/Firenze we went to a small not so touristic village on the coast; Chiavari! We past Pisa with the train, so we did not see the leaning tower. That is way we made one ourselves from cans.

playing table soccer with Italian friends 

We stayed in Chiavari for 3 nights in a very personal and nice family hotel. It had a table tennis and table soccer!! so we played most of the time with Italian friends we made. There was also a nice ferry to Rapallo another small little fishing village. We visited a busy market, saw the cozy village center and went for a swim in the sea. It was difficult to find a public beach because all the small pieces of sand were private beaches with A FLOATING TRAMPOLINE AND A LOATING SLIDE!! It was soooo fantastic to jump on the trampoline and when you lost your balance you would fall into the sea!!!!!! Steven and I played, swam had fun in the sea for 4 hours, while mum and dad relaxed, talked, read the newspaper in the shade of an umbrella. Suddenly it started to rain so we quickly stayed under cover and got dressed and went back to Chiavari with the ferry.

In the ferry

Having fun in the Rapalllo

Steven and I cycling 

The cycling picnic

On another hot yummy, sunny day. We were all very miserable and had a bit enough of each other. So Steven and I took the bikes from the hotel and went cycling in Chiavari and gave mom and dad a bit of space. We went cycling for half a day riding through different Piazzas and along the coast of Chiavari. We got money for lunch which we bought in different shops. The nice thing about Chiavari was that there were only specialist shops and no Zaras, H&Ms, or Mac Donalds) only a Carrefour!! Steven and I went to a bakery where we bought for 23 euro cent 2 fresh warm breadrolls and we bought a few other yummy and healthy things!! Then we cycled to find a shady place with nice view over the sea to sit and have our lunch. There where two small birds who made fine soft music! It was a fun time without our parents for once this year.

  Keeping Fit

Steven stretching

In Argentina we jogged every morning for three months, but because of all the travelling the jogging became less and less. So, we decided that Steven and I had to start running again every morning. In Rome we started at 7:15 sharp, jogging through all the small streets. In Firenze we jogged 2 laps around the Ponte Vecchio bridge where we slowly saw the sun come up which reflected on the rivers and made all the old buildings shine!!!!. It was beautiful, but in Chiavari we jogged on the sea coast and we again saw  how slowly the village came to life. Some of the men were cleaning their boats and putting them in water, but most of the men were drinking their coffee while watching their wives taking their dogs for a walk. This little town was a nice change from all the big and busy cities we went to.

(Next Week : SCHOOL & CHILLING  IN  MONACO!!!!!!!!!!)

ciao
Loes

WHERE MOM AND DAD had their first DD (diner date)

 

So WE ARE IN OOOOOH ROMANTIC ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week we lived in Rome!!, the capital city of Italy. Rome is the 4th most populous city in the European Union with more than  3.500.000 inhabitants.

 Not the Spanish steps but the Italian steps

When we arrived by train from Ancona it was raining ‘cani e gatti’(from Google translate) and there was a lot of chaos on the ferry and no taxis. We had to walk for 20 minutes in heavy rain hoping to be in time to catch the train. Rome was sunny and we had for the first time a nice friendly taxi driver who was happy to see us with our entire luggage. The apartment my dad booked was in the middle middle middle of the old city centre. Small problem, the WIFI was not working on the top floor so we were sitting on the steps of the 2^nd floor doing school and our home work. Our “contracting manager” also forgot to ask about the elevator!! He told us it is good for us to carry all our luggage up 75 steps to the top Apartment. So the agency moved us the next day to another apartment around the corner with WIFI and on 1^st floor in a cosy even smaller street full of terraces and a small market in front of our apartment.

Trevi Fountain

The first evening we walked around the corner and we stood on the PIAZA NAVONA and we saw the restaurant where my dad asked my mom for the first diner date when they were in Rome with a school outing. Mom thinks it was in 1983 and dad says it’s in 1984.Well at least somewhere around there. Of course they went out for a dinner for 2 at the same square, same street, same restaurant, SAME dripping candles and same waiter (well, leave out the waiter).

In China we already saw the same plazza on a painting in Costa Coffee near the Llama temple. They had a great time.

From the apartment we could walk everywhere and all the highlights and coffee shops (my dad’s highlight) were close by. One street away you could smell the bakery and the best ice-cream salon in Rome.  It was 2.50 Euro with the biggest scoops I've EVER SEEN!! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.  

A little further away from the apartment there was a busy square YES, TREVY FOUNTAIN with loads of tourists making pictures and throwing coins behind their back. The whole pond was full of Euros!!! The water in the pond was very light blue and very clear! with beautiful sculptures

Outside the Colosseum through mum's glasses

Inside the Colosseum through mum's glasses

I was impressed with the huge building Palacio Venetia. It was very sunny and the big white building looked beautiful with only blue sky!! We just learned about Roman history and Julius Caesar and saw his many statues.

Napoleon's map

We went to the Forum Romanum and Colloseum and went inside. The outside was much more interesting than the inside. In the inside you could just see the paths were the lions walked through and where the people sat. I also liked a small museum where the very old maps of Napoleon were displayed. Walking a bit further, we visited Basilic St. Peter in the Vatican, a little state on its own, like Swaziland or Monaco. This is the country where the pope lives. The current one is pope Benidictus xv1. He was elected in 2005. We went inside the big church and saw beautiful rich golden ceilings.We also visited the Pantheon.

Julius Ceasa

We went to the National historic Museum of Rome. We expected a lot, but after the Acropolis Museum we were spoiled and it was confusing. So we went back to rent an audio guide, but this gave us right information on the wrong spot or the other way around. It was confusing, the map did not link with the audio guide. It was a puzzle tour probably! (not my favourite at all).

The last attraction/ museum we did was the Fake Madam Tussauds. We paid 9 EURO PER PERSON FOR SEEING  the Pope, Obama,  Brad Pitt, Napoleon, Einstein, Hitler, Julius Caesar, Picasa & Mao in wax. It did not look real at all!!! Only Einstein and Brad Pitt had hair on their head. We thought it was a real rip off. When we went out looking for our Dad who was smart enough not to come we whispered to all the clients DO NOT GO IN.

It was a hot day and we were all tired so time for a delicious PIZZA or PASTA. Yummmmmy and.... Again this nice Ice-Cream with the biggest scoops !!!!

Next week: (Florence, coconut, coconut crack ...)

Loes

Acropolis in crisis

Mom, in front of the Parthenon.

The Kreeften on the Acropolis...finally!

We visited THE ACROPOLIS 3 times this week and 3 times it was closed. It should be open till 20.00, but when we came at 17.00 it was already closed. No visitors?? or too hot????? No one knows why?


The next day we came earlier, but it had been closed at 15.00 already without any reason. Just a handwritten note to say " closed". To go early in the morning or during the day was not possible since it was 40 degrees and too hot to walk  up the mountain. Strange that Athens closes such an important museum/attraction so early in the day during tourist season. I thought it was important for them to earn as much money as possible, since their problem of the crisis was on TV the whole day and everyone talked about it.

Sunset on the Acropolis 

Anyway we finally went in and it was real. So strange to see and walk somewhere where 2500 years ago people walked, built & prayed. The Parthenon is the main building. It has 46 columns, 15 columns on each length and 8 columns on the width. It was built to honor the goddess Athens and the treasure of the city was kept there. We saw the sunset from here, but we also were nearly blown off, because of the strong wind. After dark we arrived down and had our dinner with beautiful view on the Acropolis which was lit by night and looked stunning.

We also went to the birthplace of Democracy in the Ancient Agora!

Me in front of the Stoa what used to be the
'shopping mall' in the Ancient Agora

It felt special for me, because last year democracy was a very important subject in my school. To be seeing now where it all started and how long ago democracy was invented, it was even more unbelievable why South Africa only had real democracy in 1994. In one of the displays they showed broken pieces of pottery with names on them. Once a year the members of the counsel had to write 1 name of the person whom they did not trust. He was then send out of the country for 10 years. Usually it was someone who had been dishonest or stole money from the treasury. When there were elections you would throw a white or a black rock in a basket and whoever had the most stones was elected. There was also a small stone where people could stand on and speak to the people when they wanted to say something interesting. "Speakers Corner". 

Steven & I at the Panathenaic in Athens

Of course we still had to visit the birthplace of the Olympic Games (Ancient Olympia). But first we went to The Panathenaic Stadium
in Athens. In this stadium the 'new'  Olympic Games where held which started in 1896. The stadium is the only stadium in the world made from white marble. I also learned that the word STADIUM actually comes from an ancient measuring unit called 'stade' and is as long 185 meters in today's measure. Also the exhibition room was interesting, because it had all the fire torches used in all the openings of the Olympic Games since 1896. Even the one used in London last month.

The entrance of the Ancient Olympia stadium

Ancient Olympia! We left Athens to finally go to Ancient Olympia. Yes, it is a small village - archaeological site- somewhere 4 hours from Athens. We took the train from Athens to Patras where we stayed 4 days. From there we rented a car and drove to Ancient Olympia. Many many stones and ruins and very very hot. It was a pity that the museum was not made more attractive for kids or visitors since many stories could be told here. Every 4 years the torch lightning ceremony is held here. The place where it started for the 1st time was in 776 BC. It was now just a grass track where only the judges of the games where allowed to sit on marble benches. The public had to sit on the grass. The athletes had to do their sports naked and if they cheated their names were written on a big rock in front of the entrance of the stadium. We saw one of the Olympic Torch -carriers who came back to Olympia to visit the site and take pictures. He ran with the Olympic Torch for the Winter Games in 2006 and he still had his official jacket on. Steven talked to him and said he went to the games in London. The man took off his jacket and Steven could wear it for the picture.

Greek salad with olives, cucumber, tomatos
unions and feta of course!

We went to the beach afterwards to cool down and have some nice sea food and see the sun go down.!!


The last day in Patra we saw friends of my parents Anita and Hans. They came to visit us while driving past Patra. We had a Greek lunch and afterwards we walked up to the mountain to the castle of Patra. We could see the sea and the harbor and the ferry boat from Greece to Italy which we were going to take the nextday. Yeahhhhhhh We went to ITALY with the BOAT!!!! 

Anek Lines had a swimming pool, so we swam as soon as the pool was filled. Dad had booked a cabin for us. Actually it was specially for my mother since he had to make something up from years ago. When they were students my father invited my mother for a visit to London, but on the ferry from Holland to England he did not book a cabin, but said that they had to sleep under the staircase. 

So it was almost like on a cruise ship. The trip took 1,5 day so we had time to prepare for Italy. I remember Greece as hot, with nice Greek salads, lots of homeless cats in the streets and of course a long long history of ancient civilization.


Sorry I could not publish today from Italy. This apartment has no internet (but on the website it said it DID have!!). We have moved now to another apartment so ............I am connected again.
Ciao ciao from Roma

(next week : Roma)
Loes